Unbuffered

This week, we discuss a report with zero credibility from the State Government Leadership Foundation, which was written by a well-known telco economist from the Phoenix Center. Entitled, “The Impact of Government-Owned Broadband Networks on Private Investment and Consumer Welfare,” the report [pdf] makes so many factual errors that one wonders just how much these … Continue reading "Crazy Talk from Another Telco-Funded Think Tank – Community Broadband Bits Podcast 200"

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This week, we discuss a report with zero credibility from the State Government Leadership Foundation, which was written by a well-known telco economist from the Phoenix Center. Entitled, "The Impact of Government-Owned Broadband Networks on Private Investment and Consumer Welfare," the report [pdf] makes so many factual errors that one wonders just how much these telco think tanks really take pride in their work. George Ford authored the report. Ten years ago, he demonstrated that municipal networks most certainly did not crowd out private investment. The biggest change since then is that his employer went from supporting competitive networks to opposing them - when BellSouth SBC bought AT&T and took its name. Prior to that acquisition, AT&T actually supported competitive carriers and was even going to be an ISP on the UTOPIA network. As goes AT&T, so goes the Phoenix Center. For episode 200 of the Community Broadband Bits podcast, we discuss this report and why it has no credibility. One of my favorite points is that Ford argues municipal networks average an incredibly high take rate, which flies in the face of all the other criticism municipal networks typically face. You just can't make this stuff up. Read the transcript from this show here. We want your feedback and suggestions for the show-please e-mail us or leave a comment below. This show is 30 minutes long and can be played below on this page or via iTunes or via the tool of your choice using this feed. You can download this mp3 file directly from here. Listen to other episodes here or view all episodes in our index. Thanks to Forget the Whale for the music, licensed using Creative Commons. The song is "I Know Where You've Been." Community Broadband Bits Episode 200 - Christopher Mitchell and Lisa Gonzalez in Crazy Talk, Volume 6

When Valparaiso, Indiana looked into solutions for a business that needed better Internet connectivity than incumbent providers were willing to reasonably provide, it quickly found that many businesses were lacking the access they needed. The market was broken; this wasn't an isolated incident. Correction: Lisa misspeaks in the intro, saying Valparaiso is northeast of Chicago. … Continue reading "Valparaiso Embraces Dark Fiber – Community Broadband Bits Podcast 199"

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When Valparaiso, Indiana looked into solutions for a business that needed better Internet connectivity than incumbent providers were willing to reasonably provide, it quickly found that many businesses were lacking the access they needed. The market was broken; this wasn't an isolated incident. Correction: Lisa misspeaks in the intro, saying Valparaiso is northeast of Chicago. It is southeast. Valparaiso General Counsel & Economic Development Director Patrick Lyp joins us to discuss what Valparaiso is doing to ensure its businesses have the access they need in episode 199 of the Community Broadband Bits podcast. We discuss the need from local businesses and the dark fiber approach Valparaiso has started to encourage better choices in the ISP market. We also discuss the funding mechanism, which is tax-increment financing - a tool increasingly common in building dark fiber networks in Indiana. Read the transcript from this show here. We want your feedback and suggestions for the show-please e-mail us or leave a comment below. This show is 25 minutes long and can be played below on this page or via iTunes or via the tool of your choice using this feed. You can download this mp3 file directly from here. Listen to other episodes here or view all episodes in our index. Thanks to Kathleen Martin for the music, licensed using Creative Commons. The song is "Player vs. Player." Community Broadband Bits Episode 199 - Economic Development Director Patrick Lyp of Valparaiso

When we launched this podcast in 2012, we kicked it off with an interview from Minnesota's farm country, Sibley County. We were excited at their passion for making sure every farm was connected with high quality Internet access. After the project took a turn and became a brand new cooperative, we interviewed them again in … Continue reading "A New Cooperative Model for Fiber to the Farm – Community Broadband Bits Podcast Episode 198"

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When we launched this podcast in 2012, we kicked it off with an interview from Minnesota's farm country, Sibley County. We were excited at their passion for making sure every farm was connected with high quality Internet access. After the project took a turn and became a brand new cooperative, we interviewed them again in 2014 for episode 99, but they hadn't finished financing. They broke ground 2015 and today we discuss the model and the new Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) case study that details how they built it. City of Winthrop Economic Development Authority Director Mark Erickson and Renville-area farmer Jake Rieke are both on the board of RS Fiber Cooperative and they join us to explain how their model works. We at ILSR believe this model could work in much of rural America, in any community that can summon a fraction of the passion of the citizens from Sibley and Renville counties. Having watched this project for all the years it was being developed, I cannot express how impressed I am with their dedication. And because they own it, I'm thrilled to know that no one can take it away from them. Read the transcript from this show here. We want your feedback and suggestions for the show - please e-mail us or leave a comment below. This show is 35 minutes long and can be played below on this page or via iTunes or via the tool of your choice using this feed. You can download this mp3 file directly from here. Listen to other episodes here or view all episodes in our index. Thanks to Kathleen Martin for the music, licensed using Creative Commons. The song is "Player vs. Player." Community Broadband Bits Episode 198 - Mark Erickson and Jake Rieke, Board Members of RS Fiber Cooperative

San Francisco is one of the rare cities that has multiple high quality ISPs competing for market share, though the vast majority of people still seem to be stuck choosing only between Comcast and AT&T. This week, we talk to a rising ISP, Webpass, about their success and challenges in expanding their model. Charles Barr … Continue reading "Webpass and Its Fixed Wireless Seek Fix for Landlord Abuses – Community Broadband Bits Episode 197"

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San Francisco is one of the rare cities that has multiple high quality ISPs competing for market share, though the vast majority of people still seem to be stuck choosing only between Comcast and AT&T. This week, we talk to a rising ISP, Webpass, about their success and challenges in expanding their model. Charles Barr is the President of Webpass and Lauren Saine is a policy advisor - both join us for episode 197 of the Community Broadband Bits podcast. We discuss the Webpass model, which uses fixed wireless and fiber to serve high density apartment buildings where they are allowed in by the landlord. Unfortunately, they have been locked out of many of these buildings and are looking to the city of San Francisco to adopt better policies to ensure a single provider like AT&T cannot monopolize the building. Though the FCC has made exclusive arrangement unenforceable, the big providers are still finding ways to lock out competition. We also talk a little about the role of fiber and fixed wireless technologies, chokepoints more generally, and why Webpass is so sure it could succeed if residents were all able to to choose the ISP they wanted. Read the transcript from this show here. We want your feedback and suggestions for the show - please e-mail us or leave a comment below. This show is 27 minutes long and can be played below on this page or via iTunes or via the tool of your choice using this feed. You can download this mp3 file directly from here. Listen to other episodes here or view all episodes in our index. Thanks to Kathleen Martin for the music, licensed using Creative Commons. The song is "Player vs. Player." Community Broadband Bits Episode 197 - Charles Barr, President, and Lauren Saine, Policy Advisor, of Webpass, a growing ISP

If you are paying close attention to discussions about broadband policy, you may have come across Fred Pilot's reminders that competition is not a cure-all for our Internet access woes across the United States. The blogger and author joins us for episode 196 of Community Broadband [no-glossary]Bits[/no-glossary]. Fred Pilot's new book, Service Unavailable: America's Telecommunications … Continue reading "Service Unavailable: The Failure of Competition – Community Broadband Bits Podcast 196"

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If you are paying close attention to discussions about broadband policy, you may have come across Fred Pilot's reminders that competition is not a cure-all for our Internet access woes across the United States. The blogger and author joins us for episode 196 of Community Broadband Bits. Fred Pilot's new book, Service Unavailable: America's Telecommunications Infrastructure Crisis, discusses some of the history behind our current challenges and proposes a solution centered around federal funding and cooperatives. We discuss the switch from telecommunications as a regulated utility, to which everyone was guaranteed access, to a system relying on competition, in which some people have many choices but others have no options. We also discuss the merits of a national solution vs encouraging more local approaches with federal financial assistance. Fred's blog is Eldo Telecom and you can follow him on Twitter. Read the transcript from this show here. We want your feedback and suggestions for the show - please e-mail us or leave a comment below. This show is 30 minutes long and can be played below on this page or via iTunes or via the tool of your choice using this feed. You can download this Mp3 file directly from here. Listen to other episodes here or view all episodes in our index. Thanks to Kathleen Martin for the music, licensed using Creative Commons. The song is "Player vs. Player." Community Broadband Bits Episode 196 - Fred Pilot, Author of Service Unavailable